Ruth Edwards has welcomed the Government’s £1 billion investment in urgent and emergency care services this week.
The launch of the new Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan will see reduced waiting times and improved patient experiences both in Nottinghamshire hospitals and nationally.
Reforms include the provision of 800 new ambulances, 100 of which will be specialist mental health vehicles, and 5,000 more hospital beds.
Building on last month’s funding announcements, the new plans will expand on innovative approaches that have already been adopted in some hospitals.
These include patient flow control centres, to quickly identify blockages in a patient’s journey; care transfer hubs, to coordinate patient transfer between hospital care and social care and e-bed management systems, to speed up the availability of beds when they become free.
Online “virtual wards” will also enable up to 50,000 patients a month to get the care and monitoring they need at home, without the need for hospital admission. This approach has worked very successfully for hospitals like Watford General who used it to treat thousands of patients with covid.
Speaking in the statement, Ruth praised these innovations and asked Health Secretary Steve Barclay to confirm that Nottinghamshire would have access to them immediately.
The Health Secretary said “They can start to access them now. We announced £250 million at the start of the month, as part of the £500 million that was announced in the autumn statement, and hospitals know that funding of up to £8 billion is coming in the new fiscal year, so this is an opportunity for them to move at pace.” in response to Ruth’s question.
Ruth said: “I am pleased that the Government is adopting practical and innovative solutions developed by NHS staff on the frontline to address the pressures affecting the NHS. We have seen a huge increase in demand for NHS services this year, with over two million people attending A&E last December. It’s vital that we adopt new ways of working to help manage this demand and care for an ageing population.
“I’m delighted that the Secretary of State has confirmed that Nottinghamshire can access these innovations immediately, so people in Rushcliffe can start to feel the benefit. I will write to the Chief Executive of Nottinghamshire University Hospitals Trust and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board.”
• Rushcliffe MP Ruth Edwards column for January 2023
